DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020

Vital impact on people, places and the planet

THANK YOUOn Tuesday, December 3, 2019, over 650 donors participated in UVic’s Giving Tuesday event, contributing a total of $168,000 to support student-focused UVic initiatives. That fun and inspiring day was an amazing example of how your individual giving connects you with a community of donors who collectively gave over $19 million this year.

On campus, students, staff and faculty also took part in Giving Tuesday. Through the Philanthr-opoly game and giving machine, players “unlocked” matching funds from sponsors, selecting which priority fund to support. At the “un-selfie” photo booth, students shared messages of gratitude to donors. Engaging students in Giving Tuesday activities teaches them about the vital impact of philanthropy and how much it enriches their university experience.

The stories featured in the Donor Impact Report reflect how your gifts support our UVic edge—the unique combination of dynamic learning and vital impact in the extraordinary environment that is UVic. By highlighting how students and researchers make positive contributions to people’s lives and to our planet, the following stories show how your support makes a real and lasting difference. Recent global events have reminded us of the power of individual actions in leading large-scale change. Through this report, we take a moment to celebrate you. Thank you.

We acknowledge with respect the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Photo credit: Brynn Aisling, Mike Morash

DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 1

IMPROVING WATER ACCESSIBILITY FOR GLOBAL HEALTHDonors are addressing world environmental challenges through graduate awardsIn an ideal world, everyone would have access to clean, safe water. Unfortunately, in many places, this isn’t the case. Alexandra Cassivi’s passion for global water accessibility led her to UVic, where she was one of the first PhD students in civil engineering.

Here, in Canada’s greenest civil engineering program, research follows themes that address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges, including access to safe, sustainable water sources. “Safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and hygiene are considered basic human rights,” says her supervisor, UVic professor Caetano Dorea. “Together they form the three-pronged approach to safeguarding global health.”

Alexandra’s field research in Malawi included investigating the issues caused by water transportation and storage by comparing water quality at the source with vessels in homes.

“We saw that water was becoming contaminated between the source and the cup,” says Alexandra. “That shows that even when the water source is clean, safe and relatively close, the way in which people collect and store water is enormously important.” This research can help international organizations, governments and NGOs refine their solutions for water accessibility issues across the world.

Alexandra found her multiple trips to Malawi emotionally and physically challenging but incredibly rewarding. Receiving support through the John and Myrtle Tilley Graduate Scholarship allowed her to focus on her dissertation during her final year. As she told the award’s donors, “I was already passionate about water accessibility but my field work made me realize this is exactly what I should be doing—using science to make the world a better place.”

“I firmly believe science can ensure world sustainability. Donors who support my research fuel my conviction to change the world.”

Alexandra Cassivi

29CURRENT PHD STUDENTS IN

CIVIL ENGINEERING

$1.6mAWARDED TO 555

GRADUATE STUDENTS IN 2019/20

230DONOR-FUNDED

GRADUATE AWARDS DISBURSED IN

2019/20

2 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 3

STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGEDonors are enabling undergraduate students to tackle real-world issuesRory Hills’ love of science was born on Vancouver Island, where the tall pines and ocean waves forged his deep connection with nature. In high school, Rory listened attentively when UVic professor Andrew Weaver visited to speak about the challenges of climate change. Years later, while volunteering during one of Weaver’s political campaigns, Rory’s eyes were opened to many social issues. Rory believed he should step up to these challenges, and that a science education would help him do that most effectively.

During his second year at UVic, Rory received the Karel Hartman Scholarship and two Hugh and Lilian Salmond scholarships. The support enabled him to dedicate additional hours to his role on a project to establish an innovative drug-checking pilot addressing the opioid crisis in Victoria. Rory says, “it showed me just how demanding research can be, but also convinced me that it’s exactly what I want to do for the rest of my career.”

After this experience of applying research to real-world issues, Rory focused his honour’s thesis on the issue of climate change. His project investigated how marine microbes break down seaweed cell walls, which has potential implications for biofuel production as a renewable energy solution.

“I don’t know what life will look like a year from now,” says Rory, who secured a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for post-graduate studies at Oxford University. “But I do know that if I am pursuing my passion and working towards the benefit of others, I am where I’m supposed to be.”

“ During my undergraduate degree, applied research opportunities showed me the critical link between science and society and how much more powerful both can be when they exist in symbiosis.”Rory Hills

11UVIC STUDENTS NAMED RHODES

SCHOLARS TO DATE

2,355DONOR-FUNDED

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS/

AWARDS*

$3.8mIN SCHOLARSHIPS/AWARDS AWARDED

TO 1,935 UNDERGRADUATES*

Photo credit: Jennifer Kwan

* Includes all scholarships, athletic awards and other awards (excluding bursaries) disbursed to students in 2019/20

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6 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020

ILLUSTRATING YOUR SUPPORT IN 2019/20 INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

FROM ENDOWMENTS AWARDED THIS YEAR IN BURSARIES, SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS

LARGEST GIFT TO THE ENDOWMENTS THIS YEAR

$5.8m

$1.6m

DONORS SUPPORTING

STUDENTS

DONOR-FUNDED AWARDS GIVEN OUT

STUDENTS HELPED BY A DONOR-FUNDED AWARD1 in 7

3,397

Victoria Hand Project

The Victoria Hand Project (VHP) at the University of Victoria won a TD Ready Challenge grant of $1m to expand its work making low-cost, highly functional, 3D printed prosthetics for amputees in remote communities in Canada and underserved communities in the US. In the next three years, VHP will fit 200 amputees with upper-limb prostheses and 160 children with scoliosis braces.

“ I’m so thankful for the donors’ support, because it can be so tough to do everything. It really helps not just me, but the whole team to do well on the field and in school.”

Zoe Goodwin-Sutton, Vikes athlete, BSEng ‘21

“ I want the donors who supported my journey to know that their gifts have made a vital impact on my life, and all the lives I hope to change with my research. You have shaped my academic career since I was an undergraduate student, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Kieran Cox, BSc ‘15, PhD ’21

1% Buildings & equipment

1% General university

33% Student awards

60% Programs

1% Chairs & professorships

4% Library

Australia Canada China Germany India Netherlands Pakistan Switzerland Taiwan (ROC) United Kingdom United States

FACULTY/ STAFF DONORS

2,456 ALUMNI DONORS

1,159DONORS GAVE FOR THE FIRST TIME

8,304 TOTAL NUMBER OF GIFTS

483

4,430 DONORS $19.1m

IN DONOR-FUNDED AWARDS WENT TO STUDENTS

$6.9m

$446mCURRENT VALUE

OF THE FUND

$15.8mDISTRIBUTION BUDGET

IN 20/21

$8.7mAMOUNT ADDED TO THE

ENDOWMENT IN 19/20YOUR DONATIONS CAME FROM:

DONOR-FUNDED SCHOLARSHIPS & ATHLETIC AWARDS TO 2,490 STUDENTS

$5.4m

$1.5m DONOR-FUNDED BURSARIES TO 663 STUDENTS

GAVE

*This report highlights donor impact from the University of Victoria’s 2020 fiscal year: April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020

YOUR SUPPORT WENT TO:

Photo credit: Armando TuraDONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 7

RECOGNIZING A RISING LEADER WITH BIG DREAMS Donors give students opportunities to learn and lead in the community A member of the Ahousaht First Nation, Keenan Andrew says his academic success was reinforced by the strong circle of support in the Indigenous community at UVic. That circle included mentorship, volunteer and research opportunities, and donor support, all of which help him be a community leader and advocate.

During his first year in UVic’s Child and Youth Care program, Keenan and his partner learned they were expecting a child—happy news that raised some choices about juggling school, work and parenting with their community commitments. When Keenan was awarded the Mark Krasnick Leadership Award and the Tolmie-Wood Scholarship in recognition of his community contributions and leadership, it made those choices a lot easier.

“The pull to volunteer is sort of standard practice in my family,” says Keenan. “Receiving support alleviated the pull in the other direction—the pull to work to support a family in an expensive city.”

Inspired by his parents, who fostered over 100 Indigenous children, Keenan dreams of opening a home for Indigenous youth. “Many youth are uprooted from their communities,” says Keenan. “My idea is a group home environment that supports their ways of knowing, doing and being.” Meanwhile, he’s working towards a master’s degree in child and youth care.

At his practicum placement with the Victoria Child Abuse Prevention and Counselling Centre, Keenan incorporates art and play therapy to create space where his young clients can begin healing from trauma. When he started his post-secondary education, Keenan didn’t know he would become a counsellor. He says, “Now I’ve had this experience, I can’t see myself wanting to do anything else”.

“My traditional Nuu-chah-nulth name is Imscha, meaning stubborn. I’m stubborn about the ways I want to make changes in community, and how

I advocate for the ways Indigenous people are perceived and supported.” Keenan Andrew

63DONOR-FUNDED

AWARDS SPECIFICALLY FOR INDIGENOUS

STUDENTS

33%OF ALL DONATIONS

IN 2019/20 DIRECTED TO STUDENT

AWARDS

50NEW DONOR-FUNDED

AWARDS CREATED THIS YEAR

Photo credit: UVic Photo Services8 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 9

INFORMED ADVOCACY FOR NATURE, PEOPLE AND PLACEDonors are adding capacity in lab’s research, teaching and outreach programs “You can’t conduct applied research on ecosystems without partnering with the people who participate in them,” says Lauren Henson, a Raincoast Fellow and PhD student in UVic’s Applied Conservation Science (ACS) Lab. Like all ACS Lab members, she puts collaboration with local communities first. “We couple rigorous scientific research with the needs of the nations who have invited us to their territories,” she says. “We wouldn’t be able to do that without flexible funding.”

The research group’s effective approach to conservation science inspired significant additional funding from new investors in 2018. Their generous five-year commitment, in addition to ongoing support from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, established the Raincoast Research Chair in Applied Conservation Science, held by lab director Dr. Chris Darimont. The funding gives the lab added capacity for research, teaching and outreach programs—guided by the core values of conservation, social justice, Indigenous rights, animal welfare and informed advocacy.

Lauren’s PhD research uses genetic and genomic techniques to look at factors affecting grizzly and black bear populations. Her work with the Gitga’at First Nation is part of a large multi-nation monitoring project concerned with maintaining healthy bear populations long-term, recognizing the inherent rights of Indigenous nations to manage wildlife in their territories. Lauren says, “our shared vision is that data from our partnerships be used in planning and government-to-government negotiations.”

“Trainees in the lab are learning that how and why we do our research matters,” says Darimont. While the funding supports a growing program of applied research that directly addresses pressing ecological issues in coastal British Columbia, it also supports a new generation of community-engaged conservation scientists and wildlife advocates who are passionate about contributing to lasting change.

“ This funding allows us to provide outstanding educational opportunities to passionate conservation scientists in training whose work makes real-world contributions to policy.” Chris Darimont, Raincoast Research Chair in Applied Conservation Science

12TRAINEES

CURRENTLY WITH THE ACS LAB

15CONSERVATION PARTNERS WITH

THE LAB

12DONOR-FUNDED CURRENT CHAIR

POSITIONS AT UVIC

Photo credit: Ross Dixon / Raincoast Conservation Foundation

DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020 1110 DONOR IMPACT REPORT 2020

“ I’m inspired and in awe of how the UVic community—donors, alumni, friends, students, faculty and staff—has risen to the unique challenges of 2020. As donors, your support for UVic provides stability to weather difficult circumstances and ensure we continue moving forward together.Acts of solidarity are more important than ever, and your giving is a powerful demonstration of this. By contributing to UVic’s extraordinary academic environment, vital research efforts and dynamic learning opportunities, you help define the UVic community as one where we all work together to build a better future for people, places and the planet. Thank you.”

Jamie Cassels, QC President and Vice-Chancellor University of Victoria

Paper cranes hang in a window framing the view from the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre in New Denver, BC. The Landscapes of Injustice field school, funded in part by the Frank Hori Foundation, teaches students about the uprooting and forced removal of Japanese Canadians in BC.

Photo credit: Helen Fitzgerald

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